Ep. 207 - From Graphics to Textile, with Sujata Keshavan

Summary

In this insightful conversation we have one of the most well known, influential and senior Graphic designers of our time. Sujata Keshavan. She is the founder of Ray and Keshavan and Varnaworld. Sujata graduated from the National Institute of Design in 1984. She did her Master of Fine Arts in graphic design from the School of Art, Yale University 1987. At Yale, Sujata studied under designers Paul Rand, Bradbury Thompson and Armin Hofmann. And today we are here to know her design philosophy and my personal curiosity that can design be tangibly measured?

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Questions asked in this episode

1. In one of your articles, you mentioned, The Legendary Paul Rand taught you, "form divorced from content has no value.” Can you please explain this philosophy in detail?

2. How true is "form follows function" in graphic design and if yes, how can it be achieved? How then would we perceive works of people like David Carson and designers.

3. For the very first time you took the subject of Design into India’s corporate boardrooms and worked only at the board level with your clients. How did this happen? Can you share any insights from there? Which will also help me understand that how design inputs get measured.

4. Given the major shift in your career after Ray+Keshavan from graphic design to textiles and fashion with Varana, could you speak about the multi-disciplinary nature of design and what the challenges could be in making such shifts

5. You been serving on the governing councils of both NID Ahmedabad and Srishti, can we conclude by you telling us state of design education in India… where is it and what is needed going ahead?

   Reference links

   • https://varana.com/pages/about-us

   • https://thebranvetica.com/sujata-keshavan.html

   • https://test.nid.edu/people/detail/ms-sujata-keshavan

   • https://brindasnarayan.com/sujatakeshavan-thecraftsman/

   • https://thebranvetica.com/yeshwant-chaudhary.html

   • https://www.admecindia.co.in/graphic-design/10-most-popular-indian-graphic-artists/

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